As if we did not have enough browsers to choose from, AOL has launched itself into the mix with its new web browser. Based off of Internet Explorer, the browser includes many features such as tabbed browsing, AOL Channels, and AOL Desktop Search. I for one plan on sticking with Firefox, but those looking for tabbed browsing in an IE environment may find this useful. Our initial tests show that the browser is ridiculously slow.

Advertisement

Jux2position has just come out with a massive, totally interactive virtual reality tour of the city of Denver and its surrounding areas. I have been playing with it for a few minutes, and while I have no interest in Denver whatsoever, this is very cool. You are able to zoom in an any part of the city, and can click on points of interest to see real photos of that area. It works quite well. I would love to see this happen for more major cities across the US.

In a move that is sure to excite the masses, Hasbro has announced that they will be debuting a new and improved Furby line this fall (finally!). If you don’t remember what that is, let me school you for a moment. The original Furby debuted in 1998 and instantly became a fad

national phenomenon. Stores had trouble keeping up with the demand for the furry stuffed animal that spoke its own language, and it was banned from the Pentagon because it was said that Furby could learn. The new Furby is said to be bigger than the original, and have an even greater vocabulary than the first.

Big news out of the STI camp today, as they finally took the wraps off of the Cell processor that we have heard so much about over the past year as it relates to the Playstation 3. However, what you may not have known is that the Cell will have a major impact on much more than just the videogame industry. You see, the Cell is a major evolution in processor technology, and companies like Intel, AMD, nVidia, ATI are all taking watch. STI just one upped them all in a major way. I have taken the liberty of rounding up some of the more interesting articles from all over the interweb that will help you understand just what the Cell is all about:

For years I have tried a million map services and, more often than not, they all sent me to a dead end where the road I was looking for is across a highway - or just plain didn’t exist. Enter Google’s latest project - Google Maps. I did a few searches on Google Maps where I knew the fastest route like the back of my hand. Most sites like Mapquest and Yahoo Maps would take me a round about way, but Google used all the backroads I take to give me the fastest route. Google appears to be using TeleAtlas for its mapping data. The coolest feature is the ability to drag and zoom around the map, and its pretty darn fast as well, no waiting forever for the page to reload when you hit the zoom button. One negative that I found was that you have to put a street number in, whereas with MapQuest you can put just a street and it will display a range of numbers to pick from. Thats a minor price to pay though for one of most accurate map services I have seen in a while. Remember, all user experiences may not be the same, but for me this is taking a front seat in my favorites folder.

JoeToy.com recently posted photos of some new toy models based on the upcoming Star Wars film: Revenge of the Sith. Looks like they’re trying to meld the vehicles with Episode IV - VI storylines, but I don’t think it looks all that great. In any case, in the past few months, there have been all sorts of information leaks about the film, enough to give away the entire plot. StarWars.com already has pictures of the new villain, General Grievous. And this image from Rebelscum.com has a listing of major plot points (Spoiler Warning!) as described on the upcoming trading cards.

Alright all you Playstation fanboys - you will not have to wait until E3 to catch a glimpse of Sony’s highly anticipated next generation console. Sony’s Playstation 3 will be unveiled at an unspecified event sometime before May 18, 2005. Sony representatives confirmed that they will have an event planned where they will premier the PS3, but haven’t given the specifics. The race between next generation gaming systems is beginning to heat up and will only continue to do so as we approach E3.

Microsoft plans to release its next operating system, codenamed Longhorn, sometime within the next year or two. This operating system’s beta version will be released in June and includes many improvements since the last time Microsoft showed off their newest addition to the Windows family. Microsoft claims Longhorn will be more stable the the current Windows operating system. New additions include a presentation engine called Avalon, a Web services architecture called Indigo, and a reworking of the Windows files system known as WinFS (but who knows when this feature will be finished?). Microsoft has not released much information about all the features the beta version will offer, but it is nice to see Longhorn move closer to going gold. Can Microsoft really develop a stable operating system with less security flaws?

We’ve had a tremendous response to our last article on the PSP…so much so that we had to write about Sony’s upcoming handeld again. But in the spirit of objectivity, we’re obligated to show you the other side of the coin…the side Sony doesn’t want you to see. As much as the PSP has been praised, we’re not blind to its faults. In fact, people may have more reasons to hate it than to love it come March 24th.

By the way, do you have thoughts on whether the DS or PSP is the better platform? If so, chime in on the forums.

This one is for all you Nintendo fans out there - it looks like the company is planning to open up a Nintendo branded concept store at Rockeffeller Center, NY. A quick look at Nintendo’s jobs page at their corporate website confirms this, as they are seeking a Retail Store Manager to oversee the new project. Obviously, if this goes well, we may see more NIntendo Stores open across the country similar to the way Apple Stores caught on. This is a bold move by Nintendo, as the company has certainly lost some ground in the United States videogame arena to Microsoft and Sony.